ANZ agrees to landmark settlement with Cambodian farmers displaced by sugar company it financed
ANZ has agreed to provide a financial package to Cambodian families forcibly displaced by a sugar company the Australian bank loaned money to in 2011. The agreement, the first of its kind by a commercial bank, sets an important human rights precedent for the banking industry worldwide.
UK Government Body Accepts OECD Complaint against Sugar “Sustainability” Group
A Win for Corporate Accountability and Displaced Cambodian Communities The UK National Contact Point for the OECD, a government body that monitors the operations of British businesses overseas, has ruled admissible a landmark complaint against the sugar industry’s sustainability certification body, Bonsucro. The decision establishes that London-based Bonsucro is bound by OECD standards on responsible business conduct […]
Cambodian farmers take Thai sugar giant to court | Al’Jazeera
Phnom Penh, Cambodia – After years of protesting, two Cambodian farmers make their case this week in a Bangkok court against Thai sugar giant Mitr Phol, who they blame for the loss of their livelihoods.
Calling out the BS in BonSucro
Commentary: Why multi-stakeholder initiatives need to be held accountable for their rights-abusing members, by David Pred and Natalie Bugalski READ FULL ARTICLE ▶
Human rights complaint filed to UK government against ethical sugar association Bonsucro
Representatives of more than 700 Cambodian families who were violently displaced to make way for a sugar plantation have filed a formal complaint against Bonsucro, the sugar industry’s sustainability certification body, for breaches of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.
ANZ bank issued rare rebuke by Australian oversight body
ANZ Banking Group violated its own policies and international human rights standards by financing a Cambodian sugar company that seized land from local farmers, according to a statement released today by an Australian government body that monitors corporate behavior overseas. In a rare rebuke of a commercial bank, the Australian National Contact Point found it […]
Thai court accepts Cambodian land grabbing case, orders mediation
(Bangkok) – A Thai court has accepted a landmark lawsuit filed by plaintiffs representing a class of over 700 Cambodian farming families accusing Asia’s largest sugar producer of grabbing their land and destroying their livelihoods. In line with Thai legal procedure, the judges have asked the plaintiffs and the defendant, the Thai sugar giant Mitr […]
Forcibly Displaced Cambodians File Historic Lawsuit against Asia’s Largest Sugar Producer
Displaced farmers from Cambodia have filed a landmark class-action lawsuit against the Thai sugar giant Mitr Phol. The legal complaint was filed in a Thai civil court by two plaintiffs representing a class of approximately 3000 people who were violently displaced and dispossessed of their land and livelihoods in five remote villages in northwestern Cambodia […]
Europe’s ‘blood sugar’ – POLITICO
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — In 2006, the Cambodian sugar industry was so negligible as to be non-existent. A decade on, it has grown into a multi-million dollar commercial enterprise — largely thanks to a European policy known as “Everything But Arms” (EBA), which provides tariff-free access to the common market for exporters from the world’s […]
Victims put pressure on ANZ over the loss of their land — The Age
Pheun Ra, 42, was visiting her mother in hospital when security guards from the ANZ bank-financed Phnom Penh Sugar Company arrived at her small plot of land in Cambodia’s south. Over several hours, the guards demolished her home as part of a land grab to make way for a new sugar plantation backed by one […]